Labor Day Hurricane (1935): The Florida Keys Catastrophe

The Labor Day hurricane of 1935 struck the Upper Florida Keys on the night of 2 September 1935 and remains the most intense hurricane ever recorded at landfall in the United States. More than 400 people were killed, among them about 250 First World War veterans housed in flimsy federal work camps. The storm also destroyed the railway to Key West, ending one of the great engineering projects of its age.

Background

During the Great Depression thousands of unemployed First World War veterans demanded early payment of a promised bonus, and some joined the Bonus Army protests in Washington in 1932 and 1933. As part of the New Deal era of work relief, the Federal Emergency Relief Administration sent several hundred veterans to the Florida Keys to build a highway linking the islands.

They lived in three camps on Windley Key and Lower Matecumbe Key, in light wooden huts and tents only a metre or two above sea level. The Keys were also crossed by the Florida East Coast Railway’s Overseas Extension, built by Henry Flagler and completed to Key West in 1912.

The storm

The hurricane formed near the Bahamas at the end of August 1935. It was small and compact but intensified rapidly as it crossed the warm Florida Straits. Forecasts from the Weather Bureau at first expected it to pass farther south, and warnings about its strength came late.

The storm made landfall in the Upper Keys on the evening of 2 September, Labor Day. A barometer at Long Key recorded a pressure of about 892 millibars, still the lowest ever measured at a US landfall. Sustained winds are estimated at around 300 km/h (185 mph), with a storm surge of roughly 5–6 m (15–20 ft) that swept across the low islands.

The rescue train

Camp officials and their superiors debated when to evacuate the veterans. A relief train was finally ordered from Miami on the afternoon of 2 September, but it set off late and was slowed on the way.

When it reached Islamorada after 8 pm, the storm was at its height. The surge pushed the carriages off the track, leaving only the heavy locomotive standing. The train could not reach the veterans, and most of those who died in the camps drowned or were killed by flying debris.

Aftermath

Estimates of the dead range from about 408 to more than 420, including roughly 250 to 260 veterans. Many bodies were found weeks later in mangroves; in the heat, many were cremated on site. The storm then moved up Florida’s Gulf coast and struck again near Cedar Key on 4 September.

The deaths of the veterans caused a public outcry. Ernest Hemingway, who lived in Key West and helped in the recovery, wrote the angry article “Who Murdered the Vets?” for New Masses, blaming officials for leaving the men in danger. A congressional inquiry and federal investigations followed, but no one was held formally responsible.

Investigations and blame

The disaster raised hard questions about why the veterans were still in the camps when the storm hit. Officials of the Federal Emergency Relief Administration and the Veterans Administration argued that the Weather Bureau’s forecasts had given no clear sign of the storm’s strength or its exact path. Critics replied that the camps were known to be dangerous and that the evacuation train should have been ordered much earlier.

A report by the Veterans Administration largely described the disaster as an act of God, and a congressional committee held hearings in 1936. The debate became political, as opponents of the New Deal used it to attack the administration’s relief programmes.

End of the Overseas Railroad

The hurricane washed away embankments and tracks along long stretches of the Overseas Extension. The Florida East Coast Railway was already bankrupt and did not rebuild. The state bought the route, and engineers converted many of the railway bridges to carry a road. The Overseas Highway to Key West opened in 1938.

In 1937 the Florida Keys Memorial was dedicated at Islamorada. Its crypt holds the remains of many victims, and it is listed on the US National Register of Historic Places.

By the numbers

Timeline

• 1912: Henry Flagler’s railway reaches Key West.
• 1934-1935: Veterans are sent to work camps in the Florida Keys.
• Late August 1935: The hurricane forms near the Bahamas.
• 2 September 1935, afternoon: A relief train is ordered from Miami.
• 2 September 1935, evening: The hurricane makes landfall in the Upper Keys; the train is swept off its track at Islamorada.
• 4 September 1935: The storm strikes Florida’s Gulf coast near Cedar Key.
• 1937: The Florida Keys Memorial is dedicated at Islamorada.
• 1938: The Overseas Highway opens along the old railway route.

Why it matters

The Labor Day hurricane set the benchmark for American hurricane intensity, a record not surpassed in nearly a century. Seven years after the Okeechobee hurricane, it again showed how vulnerable poor workers were to storms, and it raised hard questions about responsibility for people in government care. It also reshaped the Florida Keys, replacing the railway with the highway that still connects them.